The House of Hades
by Arainbowsandbooks
Summary: Percy and Annabeth fall into Tartarus, and the demigods on the Argo 2 try to save them.


**H.O.O. FAN-FICTION**

**Percy**

Percy was falling. And he was falling fast. It was the only thing he was aware of. Well, of course, that and the fact that Annabeth was screaming her head off. Percy wasn't sure if he was screaming or not. He looked up, hoping to see light from where they fell, but only found a small speck of light about a thousand feet up. He stared at it until he couldn't see it, even while straining his eyes. Suddenly, his feet slammed into the ground. He staggered forward and fell on the ground, scraping his cheek on gravel. He stayed there for a moment, hoping for the pain in his legs to fade. Finally, it subsided to a light throb and he sat up and looked around for Annabeth. She was already sitting up a few yards away, rubbing her broken ankle. Her blonde curls were matted and wet from sweat and dust, and she had a large gash over her left eyebrow probably from falling debris. Annabeth looked up, and Percy could see the pain in her stormy gray eyes.

"Some fall," Annabeth muttered miserably as she tried to re-wrap her ankle. "Percy, we should check to see if we have any food." Percy stood and helped Annabeth to her feet. He checked his pockets and only found four ambrosia squares and a pack of gum. Annabeth only had a few strands of colored yarn. Annabeth sighed. "Well we have ambrosia, at least, but no food! What are we going to eat then, gum and yarn? I'm already hungry! I've eaten practically nothing today!" Percy would've thought the way Annabeth was flustered was kind of cute, if he wasn't in Tartarus without food or water.

He hugged her. "It's okay, wise girl we'll figure things out." He reassured her. "Where are we anyway?" he added. He uncapped Riptide, and in the dim light that the sword provided, he saw that they were standing in a pit with at least a foot of gravel sitting at the bottom by their feet. The pit walls were at least six feet tall with a trickle of water running down the side. "Hey Percy, can I have some ambrosia for my ankle? I took some earlier but it's starting to fade off now." Percy handed her a square and hoped they would have enough to last them for maybe, a long time. "Come on wise girl. Let's get out of this pit."

Annabeth shuffled as best as she could, while leaning against Percy. When they reached the top, Annabeth pointed out a small run-down shack near the edge of the pit they had climbed out of. The shack was old and gray with a few boarded up windows and a roof that was halfway caved in. Some of the bricks had fallen out of the walls, and ivy was creeping up one of the crumbling walls. As deserted as the house looked, smoke was happily puffing out of the thin chimney. "Percy look" Annabeth whispered and pointed at the house.

The door was halfway open. Footsteps were visible in the dust on the porch. "Do you think someone's in there?" she added. "I don't know" he muttered. "But I'm not sure we should check." Annabeth completely ignored him and stalked off into the shack, (well, she stalked as best as one can stalk with a broken ankle) muttering something that sounded like: _boys._ _"What the heck is she thinking? She can barely walk!" _Percy thought angrily to , as always, he ended up following Annabeth into the creepy old shack. The porch creaked as he walked into the house. Like in the movies, the lights were out. He held Riptide out in front of him. Percy bumped into something that screamed really loud. "Annabeth! _Husha-Busha!_ If there's a monster in here they've heard us for _sure!_" he said, relieved that it was only Annabeth. "Percy, oh Gods! I thought you were going to stay out there and let me fight the monster!" Annabeth replied with shaky breaths. "Don't be weird Annabeth, I wouldn't do that!" Percy replied.

"Huh." Annabeth said sarcastically. Suddenly, Percy could hear hissing coming from the back of the shack. He could tell Annabeth was about to say something rude, but after hearing the hissing, she wasn't about to say it _then._ She just stood there with her mouth opened in an _O_, her eyes wild, and her shoulders trembling. "Percy, I just fell down into Tartarus, I don't even want to know what we have to fight." She said, stuttering slightly. "I'm like about to break down into tears right now. It's just so much stress." She added, miserably. "we can't leave now." Percy replied sadly. He stood in front of Annabeth, with Riptide held out in front of him, and he started forward.

"Ugh, you _again._" The thing said. It stepped out of the shadows. It was a cheerleader, in a purple and white uniform. She had blonde hair and icy blue eyes. For some reason, she seemed familiar to Percy. She had a name stitched on her uniform, which Percy felt like he should've known, but if he met her before, he couldn't remember.

"Ugh, back at ya." Percy replied, annoyed. The cheerleader hissed, which seemed incredibly odd to him. "Son of the Sea God, you sent me here in the first place and you shall pay." The girl said. Percy turned to Annabeth for help, but she stood there, frozen. "Um, actually, I don't remember a demon cheerleader." Percy replied. "You should," the cheerleader hissed "because after all, you sent me here during your high school orientation." Percy thought back to his high school orientation day. He remembered getting to Goode high school, running away from Rachel Elizabeth Dare. He remembered cheerleaders. _Oh Gods, _Percy thought _those two cheerleaders._ "Tammi. Now I remember, you and that other weirdo Kelli attacked me in the band room." Percy admitted at last. It wasn't Tammi who spoke next, it was Annabeth, who Percy forgot was still hiding behind him. "Tammi?" Annabeth asked "who are Tammi and Kelly, Percy?" Tammi hissed.

"She's an _empousai._" Percy explained "you know, vampires with one donkey leg and one metal leg. But where's Kelli if you're here Tammi?" The cheerleader laughed loudly, "Oh, she never came down here. _I _had to come down here, of course, and I never made it back up, but lucky old Kelli didn't." All of a sudden, Tammi's skin paled until it was almost translucent, her eyes turned red, and Percy knew what was coming next. He looked down at Tammi's legs, which had turned into those horrible mismatched donkey/metal legs. She lunged, her fingers outstretched for Percy's throat but Percy dodged her and stabbed at her back.

Tammi sidestepped Percy's sword, and lunged for Annabeth. Unfortunately, Annabeth wasn't fast enough and Tammi caught the end of her hair and pulled the poor girl toward her. Annabeth shrieked and tried to pull away but the cheerleader was too strong. "Percy!" Annabeth yelled. Percy slashed at Tammi's arms and Tammi crumbled to yellow powder.

Annabeth looked up at Percy, her mouth in an _O_ shape again. "Thanks." She said at last. Percy capped Riptide, and shoved the sword in his pocket. "Come on," he said "before another monster comes in here."

They left the old shack and headed down a path behind the house. It was a long trek. They walked for maybe two or three hours before they found a stream in the middle of a wide, dried up pasture. Annabeth sat down and rested her ankle, which was now very swollen and purple, although Annabeth said it was just from walking not that it was broken. Unconvinced, Percy sat down and handed her an ambrosia square which she wouldn't eat. "Percy, my foot's not that bad. Besides, we need to save them for worse times." She said stubbornly. After arguing for a while, they agreed that she should eat at least half a square which she ate hesitantly. While sitting beside the creek, taking handfuls of water, they played a game of twenty questions to pass the time. It was Percy's turn to ask Annabeth.

"If you could have any super power, what would it be?" Percy asked. "I don't have any superpowers like Frank, Piper, Jason, Hazel, or even fire or a magic tool belt like Leo. Or even you, seaweed brain." Annabeth said, rolling her eyes. "Annabeth, but I asked _if you could have any super power what would it be?_" Annabeth finally replied after thinking for a long time, "I would have the super power to turn invisible." "Cool." Percy answered "Next question. On a scale of one to ten, how bad is your ankle hurting right now?" Percy knew he was going to get an answer that would make him laugh. He only asked the question to annoy Annabeth. "Percy!" she laughed "I'm not answering that!" "Why not?" Percy answered, trying his best to raise one eyebrow. "Because then you're going to get all worried and give me another ambrosia square!" she replied.

**Piper **

Piper was having a really bad day. First, she'd had to get stuck in a well in which she'd almost drowned. Next, she'd had the most fun trying to rescue Nico from Ephialtes and Otis, the twin dummies. And last but not least, two of her best friends had fallen into Tartarus. Such fun!

Everyone aboard the _Argo ll_ was pretty much doing their own thing. Frank was shut up in his cabin, and Piper had a feeling he wouldn't be coming out for a while. Hazel was in the mess hall with her head on the table and every now and then Piper would hear her fingers drumming against her chair. Jason was in the stables and wanted to be alone, which made Piper feel kind of bad. Leo was steering the ship, and whenever Piper would go up to talk to him and reassure him that it wasn't his fault, he'd ignore her and keep his eyes on the control panel. And Nico was just with coach Hedge trying to clean different parts of the ship. There was nothing to really do, so she paced the upper deck and stopped at different parts trying to imagine how Percy and Annabeth felt. If it was her in Tartarus, she would never survive, but Percy and Annabeth were older and had been at the camp for a longer time than she had, so she prayed that they would be ok.

She had felt so helpless. She couldn't even do anything about them when they'd fallen. It was just about the worst day of her life. Finally, she heard footsteps behind her, and hoping it was Jason, she tilted her head enough to see who it was. Leo. "Uh, hey Piper, sorry I was ignoring you. I'm just really stressed out of where to go and, you know." He looked away at the last part, like he was ashamed. "Leo, it's not your fault. Percy and Annabeth did something really brave. They even promised we would see them at the Doors of Death." She replied, sad that Leo felt as if it were his fault. "I know but its Tartarus! I'm pretty sure they'll be fine but like, you know how Nico said it was there. He said it was terrible." Leo said miserably. Piper sighed, "Leo, Annabeth has been at camp half blood since she was really young. She's trained for things like this. And Percy…. Is just a weird kid, but he's ok too. They've been on tons of dangerous quests." "Yeah," Leo said "I'm sure you're right. So, where to next?" Piper had no idea where they would go. "Uh, maybe Camp Half-Blood. Chiron might tell us where to like go to for the doors of death and stuff." She admitted. "Right, captain Mclean! Gather all the half-bloods in the mess hall. Tell them we're going to camp!" Leo saluted her, and marched off the deck.

Piper gathered everyone, including Coach Hedge, who looked like he'd been crying. She stood up on a chair, just for fun, but even if she weren't on a chair, no one was talking so it was incredibly silent.

"So…. Guys….. uh, we're going to camp next. Hazel, Frank, our camp, if that's fine." Hazel and Frank nodded and Piper didn't realize she had used her charm speak. "We're gonna need for everyone to explain to the camp, what happened on this quest. Leo! Where are we now?" she yelled to Leo who was in the other room controlling the ship. "WE ARE LEAVING ROME RIGHT NOW." Leo practically screamed the answer. "Ok," Piper continued "So at camp, we need to ask Chiron about the Doors of Death so that we know how to save our friends." Everyone nodded and Piper caught Jason's eye, and he even smiled, slightly.

She stepped off the chair and walked back out to the deck. She looked down and watched as the city of Rome disappeared behind them. The sun was setting as the _Argo ll _pulled up and flew higher over the clouds. She heard footsteps behind her and she knew for sure who it was. "Pipes." He said. Piper turned and smiled. Jason walked toward the railing with her and they just watched as the sea replaced Rome, and soon they were flying over the Mare Nostrum. A flock of birds flew near the ship and Piper watched as they eventually passed it.

"You were good in front of everyone" Jason said at last. "Huh, I must've looked braver than I felt." Piper said. "You were scared?" He asked curiously. "Correction. I was Nervous, mister. Talking in front of a bunch of demigods who are all sad when you're sad isn't an easy task." Piper admitted. Jason cracked a smile. "Well, you stood on the chair, so it must have been easier than you thought." Jason said sarcastically. "Hey, let's get going Sparky, so we don't miss dinner." She said and swatted his shoulder. He clutched his shoulder in mock surprise and held out his arm as if they were going to skip to the mess hall. They linked their arms together and Jason said "Come along, Miss Mclean, your peanut butter and jelly sandwich is waiting." And they did skip off to the mess hall together.

They sat down across from each other, Piper with her sandwich, and Jason with his salad. No one else really ate dinner except for them. Every once in a while, someone would come in and get a snack, but they would leave after that. Leo came in a bit after they sat down, and went to grab some pizza, until he remembered that pizza was Percy's favorite food, and instead ate an apple. Jason gave him a questioning look, because Leo isn't one to choose fruit over pizza, but Leo just waved his hand dismissively. Piper waited for Jason to finish his salad, which he started slowing down on purpose, to keep Piper waiting.

"Jason, hurry up! You're so slow!" Piper said, laughing. "Pipes, I'm just eating." He said, attempting to keep a straight face. Just then, as if on cue, Leo came in again and sat down. "Hey guys. What's up?" Leo asked. "Jason is the world's slowest eater." Piper replied, trying hard to be annoyed. "Oh, I can take care of that problem, beauty queen." Leo said suspiciously. In one swift movement, he grabbed Jason's plate, shot it like a Frisbee through the air, placed his face in his hands on the table and tried his best to smile sweetly, as if he were posing for a picture. "Leo!" Piper laughed so hard she fell out of her chair. Jason even laughed too, "Leo, you are one weird boy." Jason said. "I'm just special." Leo replied, batting his eyes. "Hey, guys we should clean this up. And I mean _you_ Leo." Piper said. So Leo kneeled and threw away the rest of the salad. "Hey, Jason, I tossed that salad pretty good huh?" Leo said jokingly. Piper and Jason rolled their eyes at Leo's corny joke.

When Leo cleaned up the mess, he, Piper, and Jason headed to the control area to see where the ship was. After seeing it, Leo announced where they were. "Yo Jason," Leo said "we'll be at camp tomorrow morning. You two should get some sleep. I'll tell the others later." "Well goodnight, Leo." Piper said. "Yeah, goodnight." Jason added. And they walked away together. Piper's cabin came first so she hugged Jason, said goodnight, and walked into her cabin.

Her cabin was specially personalized so that she could adjust the climate to whatever temperature she liked best. So when she walked in, she immediately felt comforted and relaxed. After changing into her Cherokee eagle pajamas, she got into bed, and immediately fell asleep.

She dreamed that she was in a dark pasture with only dead grass. A small creek ran to her left, and an even surprising sight was in front of her. Percy and Annabeth were sitting in the dead grass talking. Annabeth had her leg with the broken ankle outstretched, and the other leg tucked underneath her. She was leaning back casually, laughing at something Percy must have said. Percy was raising an eyebrow with his arms crossed. Finally, he gave in and laughed along with Annabeth. "Percy! Annabeth!" Piper yelled, surprised. Annabeth turned her head and caught Piper's eye. "Piper! Oh Gods! How are you here?" Annabeth practically yelled. Percy looked over too and said, "Piper! Thank the Gods!" Piper smiled and ran forward to hug them. Unfortunately, she passed right through them. "Oh, you must be here only through your dream." Annabeth said. Piper couldn't tell, but she thought she could note a hint of sadness in her voice. "Piper, where is the ship headed right now?" Percy asked curiously. "Camp Half-Blood." Piper answered. Percy's face sank. "Oh, Percy, it's because we have to tell Chiron and the camp about, you know. And we also have to talk to him about the Doors of Death." Percy nodded, and Annabeth grabbed his hand for comfort. "Piper, you're fading. You must be waking up. Make sure you tell the others about us. I hope we can see you or one of the others again. Bye." Annabeth said. Piper waved, but she could feel herself waking. She opened her eyes, and screamed.

A pair of eyes was literally two inches away from hers. She immediately knew who it was. "Leo! Get out!" she yelled. Leo jumped up and stood a few feet away. "Girl, I am still loving those power ranger jammies." Leo said, and snapped his fingers. "For the last time, they are Cherokee eagles." Piper said, annoyed that Leo never listened. "Um, yeah so anyway beauty queen, we're at camp now." Leo said.

**Leo**

So anyway, after Piper kicked Leo out, he just went outside with everyone else while Piper went to get her shoes. She came running up, cursing under her breath, "Why didn't you guys wake me up earlier?" she said, frustrated. Her pajamas were all wrinkled from sleep, and her hair looked like it had become a rat's nest overnight. She was wearing her snow boots, and she ran to catch up with her friends as they left to the deck. When they reached the open air, the camp below them cheered, until one person from the Athena cabin yelled out "And Annabeth and Percy?" Hazel wiped a tear from her face. She nudged Leo with her elbow, and moved her mouth up and down as if to say: _talk Leo._

"Uh, guys, for those of you who have no idea who I am, I'm Leo. So um, Hazel here wants me to talk about the quest." And so Leo told that story. He explained about Narcissus and Echo, Hercules and Achelous, and the giants. Finally, he told about Annabeth's special quest.

"So like, the reason Percy and Annabeth aren't here," Leo said, pausing for effect "is because Annabeth started falling into Tartarus," several people below gasped, "and Percy jumped down with her." Leo looked around. Both Piper and Hazel were now crying. Many people below were too. "Wait," Piper said suddenly, "I had a dream about them last night. Actually, I must've gone to Tartarus in my dream. They talked to me. As soon as I got there, I looked around and Annabeth was actually laughing. Percy was trying to keep a straight face." Leo looked at her crazily. She mouthed: _what?_ at him. He shrugged and looked away. Jason looked at her and smiled. For a moment, everything was silent again, until Chiron spoke up, "Will you five, including Nico di Angelo and Coach Hedge please evacuate the ship and come to the big house?"

Everyone obeyed him, and evacuated the ship. Once on the ground, the crowd parted to let them through. "I kind of expected that reaction, but I kind of didn't." Leo said, his face a mixture of sadness and confusion. No one answered him, but Leo knew everyone was wondering what Percy and Annabeth were doing. Leo was directly behind Piper and Jason, who were whispering as quietly as they could. Leo could tell by everyone's faces that they knew Piper and Jason were whispering, but no one showed it. Leo wanted so badly to jump up between those two lovebirds, but he held himself back. Although he did walk a little bit faster to hear the rest of their conversation, and here's what he heard:

Jason: What else did they say in your dream?

Piper: well, I'll tell you again. So I just popped up, and Annabeth was laughing really , really hard, and Percy's just sitting there like trying to keep a poker face, and then Annabeth noticed me and she was all: "Piper!" and stuff. And then Percy noticed me too-

Jason: yeah I know that part.

Piper: ok so then they got a little sad, I could tell, and then I just told them we were coming here and they were like: "ok!" and then I left.

Jason: yeah I wish we'd see them again, but I don't think they'll be able to make a connection out of Tartarus.

Just then they reached the House and Piper and Jason immediately quieted. They went inside where in the jungle room, was a table already set up with seven chairs around it. Chiron stood, but everyone else sat. Chiron made them tell little details that they didn't share in front of the camp. They told him all about when Gaea was planning to awaken, that Annabeth had a broken ankle, and that the eidolons had chased them. "Well, I'd love to help you find the Doors of Death, so the first part is to fall asleep. Who is the most tired right now?" Chiron said. "Leo," everyone said at once. "Leo, please lie down on that bed over there," a bed had magically appeared under Seymour the jaguar. Leo obeyed him and immediately cuddled up on the bed. And soon, he was asleep. His dream surprised him a lot.

He was in a tree. That was the first thing he noticed. He sat perched on a very high branch, and looking around, he noticed two lumps sitting on the biggest branch, leaning against the tree for support. Leo realized that they were humans. One of the person's head was lolling back and forth, and every once in a while, would snap up. The other human was awake, obviously, it's hands fiddling with yarn. Leo crept up the branch, and sat in front of them. It was Percy and Annabeth. _Wait a second, _Leo thought to himself, _it's Percy and Annabeth sleeping- in a tree._ "Yo, Percy." Leo said loudly. Percy looked up. "Hey, Leo!" Percy exclaimed excitedly. "Hey, we got to camp this morning and we told everyone about the quest. But like, we came back to the Big House and they told me to sleep." Leo said. "Chiron told you to sleep?" Percy asked curiously. "Yeah." Leo replied. Annabeth's eyes snapped open, and she gripped the side of the tree. Percy grabbed her arm to keep her from falling off. "Leo! You're here!" Annabeth said. Leo nodded. "Hey, I'm gonna ask you guys questions. Everyone's been wondering. Annabeth, your ankle?" he asked. "It could be better. It's just we walked a while so it's swollen." She pointed at her ankle which was now the width of a grapefruit and was bruised all around the sides. "Yuck." Leo said, looking away from the purple oversized ankle. "Gee, thanks, Leo." Annabeth said, rolling her eyes. "So guys, what kind of bad monsters have you seen?" Leo asked. "No need to sound so eager," Percy said sarcastically. "But, anyway, we fought _empousai_ ." Leo raised his eyebrows at the word _empousai._ "_Empousai_ are like vampires but with one donkey leg and one metal leg." Percy explained. Leo made a disgusted face. Annabeth yawned and Percy hugged her close.

Leo felt himself being shaken. "Leo, you're disappearing." Annabeth said. "They must be waking me up now!" Leo exclaimed. And with that, he opened his eyes and found all his friends standing in a semi-circle around his bed. "Leo," said Jason "you talk in your sleep." "I had a dream about Percy and Annabeth like Piper." Leo answered. "Well, what did they say?" Frank asked. "Not much. I saw Annabeth's ankle though. It looks really bad. It's purple and really big." Leo replied. "Is that all you saw?" Piper asked. Leo shook his head. "No. They said they fought an empow thing or something." Leo replied. "_Empousai?"_ Chiron asked. Leo nodded. "Terrible creatures." Coach Hedge decided. Nico nodded in agreement.

**Annabeth**

Annabeth was really wishing another one of her friends would fall asleep so she could talk to them again. After Leo left, Annabeth was truly realizing how much she disliked Tartarus. "Percy," she said "This is the worst place ever. I wish we weren't here." Percy looked at her and smiled weakly. "We'll get out of here, don't worry." He said.

Suddenly, Annabeth heard a hiss below them, at the base of the tree. Hoping it wasn't Tammi, she looked down and instead saw two women looking up at her. She nudged Percy's shoulder and pointed at the women. Percy had a mini spasm attack right there in the tree. He fumbled for his sword, which he uncapped. "What? Who are they?" Annabeth asked. They looked almost like regular humans, until you looked up and saw they had snakes for hair, bronze boar tusks sticking out of the corners of their mouths, and glowing red eyes. Or if you looked down and saw that they had claws for feet. Besides that, they had bodies of regular people, in flower printed old dresses. "Gorgons. Medusa's sisters Stheno and Euryale." Percy answered. "Ugh. I'm tired of monsters. Which one is Stheno and which one is Euryale?" Annabeth asked curiously. "Stheno is the real smiley one and Euryale is the one covered in Bargain Mart stickers." Percy replied.

"Demigods, pah!" Euryale said, annoyed. In one swift move, Percy swung his legs over the side of the tree branch and dropped to the ground. He stood up, and held Riptide out in front of him. Annabeth tried the same, although it wasn't so easy with a broken ankle. So she stayed on the branch and attempted to lower herself, but the branch was about seven feet off the ground. She gripped the tree hard, swung her legs over as Percy had done, and dropped. Fortunately, she didn't land on her ankle. Unfortunately, her head broke the fall. She stood up, rubbing her head and stepping toward Percy. "How have you been enjoying Tartarus?" Percy asked. "I should ask the same of you." Euryale snapped. Stheno smiled, which Annabeth found odd. "Tartarus hasn't been that bad. We don't even have to work here! I only got paid minimum wage at the Bargain Mart. Euryale won't get rid of those stickers though." Stheno said cheerfully, pointing at Euryale. Euryale hissed and bared her fangs/tusks. She charged at Annabeth, who looked weak at the moment with her broken ankle and her hurt head. Annabeth sidestepped her and tackled her from behind. Euryale somersaulted and threw Annabeth from her back. Annabeth landed on the ground and rolled, gritting her teeth. She looked up and Euryale kicked her ribcage. Tears sprang from Annabeth's eyes. She was pretty sure she had broken a few ribs. Percy noted her pain and took that as a hint to fight Euryale instead. He slashed at her chest and she crumbled to yellow powder. Annabeth lay on the ground, struggling to breathe. She noticed Stheno standing on the side of the fight watching intently. When she noticed Percy advancing on her, she scrambled away like a cornered insect. Percy swiped the sword across her throat, and with a sickening _THWACK, _her head flew off her shoulders just before it crumbled to dust.

Annabeth was shuddering and gripping her sides. Her ribs felt terrible. Percy came over and capped Riptide. "Oh no," he muttered. "Annabeth, was it your ribs?" Annabeth nodded feebly and clutched her torso again. She was getting all the bad luck! First, she got a broken ankle, then a huge headache, and finally, she broke a few ribs. Percy picked her up and began to jog at full speed. Annabeth was half conscious, but she could tell that they were near water. She could hear it from half a mile away. She closed her eyes, and felt herself being lowered onto soft ground. Then she passed out.

When she finally came to, her hand was trailing in the river, and Percy was sitting a few feet away, eating an apple. When he noticed that Annabeth was awake, he quickly rushed over and handed her an apple. She took it and surprisingly, sat up. "Hey, so I see I'm better." Percy nodded. "Yeah, I used my amazing Percy Powers on you." Annabeth rolled her eyes at him and bit into her apple. "Uh, where'd you find these apples?" she asked, uncertain. "Oh, while you were passed out I followed the Gorgons' footsteps and I found a little stash of stuff there. There were a couple of knifes there too and I got you one." He handed her a small knife. It wasn't what she was used to, but it would have to do. She missed her dagger. She missed everything. It was so lonely down in Tartarus. "By the way, you drool when you sleep." Percy said, crossing his arms. Annabeth laughed at the old memory. It was when Percy had just defeated the Minotaur when he first arrived at Camp. He was passed out, and she had made the same comment about him when he'd woken up. She studied her new knife. It was small. That was the first thing she noticed. It was just like a small kitchen knife, only too big and sharp to be a butter knife. "So like, is my ankle okay too?" she tucked the knife away, hooking it in her belt loop. "Should be." He said, shrugging. "Why didn't we think of that before?" she asked, feeling dumb. "We had no water. Right? Like, unless you had some. That would be pretty sad." "No I had none so this was fine then." She stood up and tried to walk around. Her ankle felt so much better. It was just a little sore, but she could definitely run on it. Percy had saved her, again. She always felt so awkward here, because she broke her ankle, hit her head, and then broke her ribs.

"Wait, wait, wait. While I was… not awake, you left me here to follow the gorgons?" she asked. "Yes, Annabeth, yes I did. I left you here in Tartarus, while you were unconscious, so that a monster could come and get you." She swatted his arm and they started walking along the river. It would've almost been romantic, except for the fact that…..you know. She kicked a stone into the river. "You know what makes me sad, here?" she said, changing the subject. "What?" "That it's just so different. I mean, there's rivers and trees and stuff, but they're all sad and dead. Like the river, it's loud, but you can feel that it's not a real river. And all the grass is dead. And there's no sun." Percy didn't reply for a long time. "We're just gonna make the best of it." He said, finally.

They sat down, again, and just watched the artificial river flow. Annabeth started to feel drowsy, but she knew better than to sleep. "Hey, you gotta sleep." Percy said. "Ha- no. You haven't gotten a turn yet. _I'm _gonna keep watch, seaweed brain." Percy leaned back on the ground, but didn't sleep. Annabeth just sat there and watched everything around them. She noticed how dry and humid it was. No wind, at all. She looked at all the gravel next to the river. She threw a few of the rocks into the water and watched them sink. After about five minutes, she got irritated with Percy. "I said, go to sleep." "I'm sleeping." He said. "No, Percy, I'm serious. You need all the rest you can get. Sleep." "I'm not sleeping, knowing that you're awake and probably sad." He said and rolled over so that he was facing her. She backed up and leaned against a tree that was behind them. Percy scooted back too. She plucked a piece of dead grass and fiddled with it, until it got boring. Finally, she responded. "But, I'm not alone."

**Hazel**

Hazel just couldn't believe how much she was starting to feel more… connected to some of her friends. She'd known some of them for only a few days. Yet they were already her best friends. She was feeling…strange feelings toward one of her friends in particular. She felt like she was in a dramatic movie, like an actress who wasn't sure which guy to pick. She heard Piper talking about a movie she hated that was called Twilight, and by the sounds of it, that was how she felt. First, there was Frank, who she'd known for the longest, and they were already dating. But Leo was just different. She couldn't explain it. So anyway, while she was in her own world, thinking about her "love life," her friends got up and headed outside.

"Geez, it feels so weird without Annabeth here. I mean, I don't really know Percy, but I knew Annabeth well I guess. We'll all help you get used to this camp, for now. Hazel, and Frank." Piper said. Jason hugged her and added, "Yeah okay so, Hazel, go with Piper and Frank, go with Leo." Leo and Frank looked at each other, oddly. Jason quickly added, "Nico, you should go to the infirmary." And so that's how things went. Hazel just followed Piper around the camp. "Hazel, I know what you're thinking. I can read expressions. It's like an Aphrodite gift or something." Hazel freaked out, considering she wasn't used to being able to have her expression read. "And I can tell you what the others are thinking too." She added. Hazel shrugged and changed the subject. "Nice camp. What are all these cabins for?" she waved her hand around the ring of cabins they were passing. "Cabins for the children of the Gods. Like, me, for example, I would be in the Aphrodite cabin." She pointed to a terrible looking, oversized dollhouse. It was pink. Hazel understood. "Ok, so I would be in the Pluto cabin." "Yeah. Only, here it's Hades, I guess. Nico might stay there, if he's not at the infirmary." Piper turned away as they talked, because they must've been passing a cabin she didn't like or something. "What cabin is that?" she asked, pointing at the one Piper cringed at. "Poseidon." She said and kept on walking. They passed the basketball courts, where some kids were playing in, against the fauns. Or satyrs, whatever.

"But anyway, Hazel, as the daughter of Aphrodite, I can help you. I'm not being sarcastic." She said and spread her hands. "I thought you would change the subject." Hazel pulled her curly hair over her shoulder. "But which one?" she added curiously. "I'm not telling you, but you should be feeling it, when you're around that person. I feel it when I'm with Jason. Like, I just knew it. Like, explain to me, as best as you can, no need to feel embarrassed, how you feel around Frank." So Hazel told her. Even after she said it, she realized how little she knew about him. But she couldn't leave him. Or "dump" him as everyone said, today. He had trusted her with his life, and given her his little piece of wood.

But when she got to Leo, oh boy, she couldn't stop rambling. Every little thing about him, his curly hair, his….hyper-ness. His love for building. His eyes were interesting though, she had first noticed them when they were on the island with Echo and Narcissus. "Well, it sounds like you like Leo." She said. Now they were just walking to random places around camp. "No, I mean yes, but why is it so hard?" she asked, frustrated and ran her fingers through her hair. "Huh, well I always used to be all: I have no idea about anything about crushes, so since I was here with you, I just had to wing it. I hoped you didn't notice. But anyway, so like, if I were you, you may not want to take my advice, just warning you, I would pick…. Leo. I know, that's the weirdest thing I've said in my entire life. But like, it does sound that way." She said. "Maybe. Hey, is there anything to eat here?" she asked. "By the way, what's a chicken nugget?" she asked. Piper laughed. I'm letting Leo explain that one to you.

So they walked to the Hephaestus cabin, after their LONG chat, and asked where Leo was. Jake Mason told them he was at bunker nine with Frank but would be back any minute. So they waited for him, and soon he came back. Frank was looking embarrassed but Leo was strutting around, stopping at different places to strike a pose. When he reached the cabin, his face lit up at the sight of Piper and Hazel waiting for him. "Ah, you're consulting the wise one. Wise choice." He said, making little finger guns at them. "Actually Leo, Hazel's got a question for you. You mentioned it on the ship." Leo smiled. "Oh yeah, about that chicken nugget thing. Walk with me." He linked his arm through Hazel's and began strutting around again. "See, Hazel, a chicken nugget is a piece of chicken, rolled in like bread crumbs or something, and then it's put in the oven. But they're little pieces of chicken." Hazel nodded. "Uh huh. Do they have them here at camp?" she asked. Leo nodded. "Yep, Yep, Yep. But at camp we have to eat mostly healthy foods like fruits and bread." he said, with a disgusted face. "So, when is lunch?" "Soon." As if on cue, a conch horn blew, and Hazel knew it was time for lunch.

They headed to the pavilion, where they sat at a table together, which was probably against the rules, but no one told them off for it. Hazel tried a chicken nugget for the first time. "Mmmm…." She told Leo. "I didn't know I was missing out on this." Leo nodded, and grabbed one off her plate. Hazel could see Frank watching them, closely. When Leo dropped his fork on the ground, Piper mouthed, _his expression- look at it. _When he sat back up at the table, Hazel got a good look at his expression. The only thing she noticed was that the corners of his mouth were tugging upward like he was trying hard to keep a smile in.

After lunch, was supposed to be Capture the Flag. So when they were done, they headed to the big field in front of the forest where they sorted out the armor and helmets. Her friends got put on different teams. It was Hazel, Leo, and Frank on one team. And Jason and Piper on a different team. They started in the forest. When the conch horn blew, Leo led Hazel and Frank, since they hadn't played before at the camp. Jason and Piper charged at them, on purpose, so that it would be more… fun? Hazel scooted more closer to Piper's side, she'd seen Jason with a sword before, and she did _not_ want to fight him. Piper had a small dagger, compared to Hazel's sword. Piper slashed by Hazel's side and Hazel sidestepped her and blocked Piper's next move. They continued like that for a while, until Jason joined Piper. "What? You're ganging up on me!" Hazel said, laughing. Jason had Leo and Frank in headlocks. They were both squirming and trying to hit Jason. "Jason! Come on! Let me go!" Leo shouted. "Jason, please!" Frank whined.

Jason let them go. "Ok, Leo, round two." He said. They started again, and this time Hazel and Leo took on Jason. They both managed to get Jason on his knees by crouching down and hugging onto his legs. Eventually, he gave in and they had Jason being dragged between them. "Hahaha, poor Jason!" Piper laughed and patted his head. Just then, Hazel, Frank, and Leo's team captain ran into the clearing they were in, carrying the other team's flag. Their team cheered, and something surprised Hazel, very much. Just then, Leo and Hazel looked at each other, and did the same thing, almost at the exact same time. Their gaze met, and they immediately rushed forward and hugged each other. When they were released, Hazel looked up at Frank, her cheeks red. He was standing to the side, his arms crossed. So, to make him feel better, she hugged him too.

**Percy**

Percy immediately felt better. The fact that he knew that Annabeth thought she wasn't alone, brightened up his day. Well, as much as a day can brighten up in Tartarus. He propped himself up on one elbow and smiled at her. "Go to sleep, geez. I asked you, no, I _told_ you to do that like a billion times." "Okay, okay." He said, grabbing her hand, and fell asleep. Secretly, he was hoping for two things. First, that he could visit Camp Half-blood in his dreams. Second, that he wasn't drooling in his sleep. Annabeth would bother him about that for years.

But, one of his missions were accomplished. His dream was in Camp Half-blood. He stood in the forest, and his friends were cheering on for something. He willed himself inside his dream to walk forward, toward Hazel, who he saw was standing awkwardly between Leo and Frank. Suddenly, Hazel's mouth dropped and she pointed over Leo's head, at Percy. Piper and Jason were a few feet away, talking about something that was making Piper hit Jason's arm. Jason clutched his arm and looked over at Percy. "Oh my God! Percy!" he yelled loud enough for half the camp to hear. They looked around for Percy and some of them started crying. Chiron was watching the campers from behind, and when he saw them looking around frantically, he headed over to them to see what was wrong. "Percy Jackson. You're here in your dream?" he asked. "Uh, yeah. Sadly." He said, shrugging. Piper came over. "How are you doing over… there?" she looked down at the last word. "Fine. Annabeth is okay." "Her ankle healed?" Chiron scratched his beard. "Yeah, I used my amazing Water Man powers to heal her ankle. And ribs. And head." He winced a couple of times while naming her injuries.

Jason came over, standing next to Piper. "Look man, sorry." He said. "Nah, it's okay." Percy said, attempting to hit Jason's arm like Piper had, but his hand passed right through Jason's shoulder. _That was pretty awkward, _he thought to himself. Leo came over next. "Hey, what about that tree? The time I came, you were in a… tree." Leo asked Jokingly. "Ha ha, Leo. No, after you left, the gorgons came for us, and they kind of broke Annabeth's ribs. So then I carried her down to this weird river, after I followed the gorgons' trail and found a supply of stuff there." He replied. "Um, I'll like repair the _Argo ll _and then we'll be off to Greece to save you." He said, completely off topic. "Percy, we're starting to be able to see through you right now. You're like, sparkling." It was the first time Frank had spoken up. "Yeah, okay. Guys, I'll see you some other time." He said. And, he woke up.

When he opened his eyes, Annabeth had her ear up right next to Percy's face. "Annabeth. What are you doing?" he asked her. Realizing that he was awake, she scrambled away and sat down, crossing her legs. "You talk in your sleep, so I wanted to hear what you were saying." She said. "Huh, well I had a dream of camp. I was there, and I talked to everyone. All of a sudden, we're having dreams of our friends. Like, all of our dreams are about them." He said. Percy looked down, at his and Annabeth's fingers intertwined together. "Well, that must mean, I'll have a dream about them. But I'm not tired. So let's bounce." She picked up her knife, which she had been holding, and got up. Percy got up, too, putting his hands in his pockets of his sweatshirt. He held, Annabeth's hand again, feeling more comforted.

First of all, the heat was almost unbearable. It made their trek to nowhere much more painful. Second of all, they started up a mountain. A very large mountain. So, they played a game. It was called, "Guess what our friends are doing right now." "I'm pretty sure Leo's doing something he thinks is funny." Percy said at last. "I hope he's not. I hope he's repairing the ship." Annabeth sounded concerned. "Huh. Ok, now… Piper." "I think she's talking to Jason. She does that a lot." Annabeth said. "Yeah, so I think Jason is talking to Piper, then." They reached the top of the mountain. "Annabeth, why did we even come up here? There's absolutely nothing. It was a waste of time." "Nothing is ever a waste of time. We came up here for a reason. We can look around from this high up to see where we want to go next." So Percy listened to her. After all, she was the daughter of Athena.

Annabeth climbed up onto a big boulder, (there were boulders all over the mountain,) and looked around, and Percy followed. "Percy, that's the river we were just at. And over there," she said, pointing at a big area where there was a huge pit. "is where we first started." Suddenly, there was a loud noise hitting the ground, like a person had fallen from a high place. Percy drew his sword and Annabeth pulled out her small knife. And out of nowhere, appeared the most hideous thing he'd ever seen. It was a woman, with four black eyes, and a vicious smile with razor-sharp, needle-like teeth. Only, she wasn't completely a woman. She had the body of a humongous black widow spider. Annabeth made a small whimpering noise. "Uh, Annabeth? Is that Arachne?" "Yes." She said quietly. Arachne scuttled closer to them, and Percy stepped in front of Annabeth. Annabeth stepped out from behind him. "I can fight!" she exclaimed, obviously annoyed. Suddenly, it was as if he was in the Labyrinth again. He was about to battle the Sphinx, and Annabeth did the same thing she had done now. Percy remembered himself standing in front of Annabeth, and Annabeth had said the exact same thing. And then she'd put on her Yankees cap and disappeared.

Percy snapped back to reality. Arachne was only a few feet away, advancing on them faster by the second. "Fine." They went back to back, like they had many times before. In one swift movement, Arachne leapt onto the boulder and clicked her pincers. "Finally. I shall get my revenge on you, child of Athena." She ran, or as best as a spider could run, toward them. Percy tried to slash at her, but she was too quick. She swiped one of her spindly legs in front of him. Right before it hit him, he noticed her leg had spikes on it, as big as Annabeth's knife. He tried to maneuver out of the way, but that only slowed down the blow. He closed his eyes, and knew what was coming. And sure enough, he felt pain like he'd never felt before. It was a stabbing pain, since of course, he was being stabbed. It was right in the middle of his stomach. Then, he felt warm liquid spray across his whole torso and stain his shirt. He sank to his knees and felt his face hit the cold stone of the boulder. He lay, sprawled, with his arms and legs out. "Percy!" Annabeth screamed. Percy fell with his head turned, and half-consciously, he watched Annabeth's movements.

**Annabeth**

Annabeth felt like she was about to lose her sanity. Percy had been injured badly, while she'd stood to the side and watched. But she couldn't fight Arachne with her little kitchen knife. So she ran toward Percy, dodging Arachne's next blow. She kneeled next to Percy, and tried to pull his sword free from his grip. But his hold was like iron. She turned around and saw Arachne scrambling toward her, on all eight legs. "Come on… Come on… Percy… Come on…" she said frantically. Percy's eyes flitted to Annabeth's face, and he immediately let go of his sword. "I will get you this time, Annabeth Chase, do not even try to defeat me." At the last moment, when the spider leapt up, to try to pounce on Annabeth, she slid underneath Arachne and jabbed Percy's sword upward. With a sickening _"splat!"_ she knew she had met her target. She rolled sideways, and looked behind her. She felt a surge of relief.

Arachne had Riptide lodged in her rib cage. Annabeth was almost happy, until she looked back and saw Percy lying down, covered in blood. She pulled Percy's sword out of Arachne's side, and after watching Percy use it for so long, she knew just how to cap the sword. So, after closing it, she shoved Riptide in her pocket and sprinted over to Percy. "No, no, no…" she muttered. Percy blinked a few times, but slowly. Annabeth kneeled down next to him. Percy's blood soaked the knees of her jeans. She pushed him over and saw something terrible. The front of his sweatshirt was torn, and the shirt underneath that was, too. He had a deep gash that was visible through all of his layers. Annabeth lied down and propped herself up on her elbows to see Percy's face. He was breathing lightly, and his green eyes were glazed over. He weakly lifted his arm and placed it on top of Annabeth's. Annabeth stood up and grabbed his arms. She wasn't strong enough to carry him, so she had to half drag, half carry him down the mountain. She had him propped up on her shoulder, and she was walking as quickly and gently as she could, while holding Percy. It wasn't easy. There were plenty of bumps and drops she had to be careful to avoid, to not drop her boyfriend. Pretty soon, she was drenched in her sweat, and Percy's blood. Percy had probably passed out a long time ago, because his body went slack. After what felt like hours, but probably was just about forty-five minutes since she tried to run down the mountain, she reached the base. Holding in her tears, she retraced her and Percy's steps back to the river they were at before.

"Please be okay…" she repeated over and over. When she reached the edge of the river, she quickly laid Percy down, and almost choked on her tears at what she saw. Percy had gone extremely pale, and his eyes were closed. He was breathing very lightly, and his whole torso was stained with blood. Annabeth didn't know how to get him into the river. Finally, she decided she would try to lay him on the edge and dip his hand in the water. After a while, she covered her eyes with her hands, and waited while tears slid down her face. A minute passed, and nothing happened. She peeked through her fingers, and whimpered. Percy wasn't moving. Annabeth tried pushing more of his arm into the river. She waited, and shut her eyes again. Finally, she heard a small groan, and she opened her eyes. Percy was still on the ground, only his cuts and bruises were slowly healing. Annabeth looked at the gash through his sweatshirt and felt relieved. It was gone, leaving a jagged scar, and his shirt was still torn.

He started breathing deeper now, his eyes still closed. Annabeth scooted closer and waited hopefully for his eyes to open. At last, his green eyes snapped open and Annabeth went hysterical. She buried her face in her hands and sobbed. For no reason. It was like all the stress of saving him was pouring out of her. _He could have died!_ She thought miserably to herself. She felt Percy put his hand on her shoulder as she cried. "It's okay, Annabeth. You're okay. Everything's okay." "Everything's okay?" Annabeth said, opening her eyes. Her shoulders started to shake. "You almost died!" she said, her voice cracking at the last part. "And you saved me." Percy said, hugging her. Annabeth looked at him, and suddenly felt so thankful to have a crazy boyfriend who jumped into Tartarus after her. Even though they were covered in blood, they kissed, and Annabeth was just feeling so relieved after almost losing him.

They released each other and Annabeth dried her tears on her bloodstained hands. "Percy, what are we gonna do?" she asked, depressed. "How about I lead us this time?" Percy asked. "Mmm-hmm. Oh, I forgot to give this to you!" Annabeth exclaimed, taking Riptide out of her pocket. "I don't know if you were awake or not, but after Arachne slashed you, I kind of took your sword to fight her." "Yeah, I knew about that. I was kind of awake, but kind of not, so it looked like you were swimming. But I saw your awesome Chuck Norris moves on Arachne." Percy said, completely poker faced. "Ha ha." She replied.

They walked along the river like they had before, and Annabeth's stomach grumbled. "Whoa, whoa, whoa." Percy said. "Sorry, I'm _starving._ How long have we been here anyway?" Annabeth asked. "I really don't know." Percy checked the imaginary watch on his wrist. "Can we like find food or something? How about you show me where you found the gorgons' food?" Percy nodded and started down the steep hill next to the river. Annabeth ran after him and he started running faster. "Try to get me!" he yelled over his shoulder. Annabeth may not have been as ahead as Percy had been, but she was pretty fast. She tried to pick up her pace, and was soon up to his speed. She tapped him on the shoulder. "What?" he said, slowing down. "Okay, this way now." He headed down, through a clearing with small trees on the side. Annabeth trailed behind him. Her stomach grumbled again. Percy went down through the trees and Annabeth noticed footprints in the dirt. Yep, they were going the right way. Percy stopped at the base of a tree, and pulled a package out of the base of the tree. "I didn't get all of it before, because they may have had gorgon blood in it, but now I'm desperate." He said, and pulled another package out of the base and him and Annabeth headed back to the clearing. They sat down, and each opened up their packages. They had different things. Annabeth had packs of crackers, and Percy had some dried fruit baggies. They had a small picnic, and Annabeth was immediately filled.

**Leo**

Leo was tired of being the repair boy. He was the one in charge of fixing the ship, and everything else. What really sucked, was that while Leo hammered and drilled, his friends sat chit-chatting around a table and drinking sodas. Leo left his control room and walked over to the bathroom, grumbling. He passed by the table. Piper had her feet crossed on the table and was being picked on for doing so by Hazel and Jason. "No, no, no. See, Jason, that was the part when you were making me mad by calling me 'beauty queen,' so then I called you 'sparky,' and you were all offended." Piper said jokingly. "But the only reason I called you 'beauty queen,' was because Leo was calling you that." Jason replied. Hazel and Frank were laughing at their argument. "Great, great, and you know what else about Leo?" Leo said, sitting in the middle of the attention, on top of the table. "He is your captain, and would like to hand you your list of super fun chores! Jason, Piper, you two are going to clean up the mess hall. Hazel, Frank, you two are going to clean up the stables. Nico, you're going to clean the upper deck." "What? Come on, Leo, don't be so mean!"Piper said, taking her feet off the table.

"We need to get moving. Who knows how Percy and Annabeth are doing! We need to rescue them!" Leo exclaimed. "Yes, sir." Jason saluted him and looped his arm through Piper's and they set off to the mess hall. After everyone had set off to do their jobs, Leo set to work on flying the ship. Coach Hedge couldn't, because instead of helping around like everyone else had, he was down in his cabin, watching Chuck Norris and Jackie Chan movies. Leo started the _Argo ll, _and they were off. Soon, they were soaring over Manhattan, and he listened to Festus whirring his drill-bit teeth and creaking his head as they flew. Leo stayed at the controls, until sundown, only taking breaks for snacks and to use the bathroom. At around 5:45, the old goat came into the control room.

"Valdez, take a break. Tomorrow morning though, you can fly this ship because I was planning on sleeping in." he said, taking the controls. "Okay, thanks." Leo mumbled. His back and neck were stiff, and his arms were sore, but he felt like he'd accomplished something, instead of sitting around drinking soda. He headed to his cabin, where he crashed, and the nightmares began.

He was at Camp, and a soothing voice spoke to him, but Leo knew better than to feel comforted by this voice. "Gaea." he angrily muttered, looking around. A woman stood a few feet in front of him, blending in with the forest. Her hair resembled a river, flowing down and around her shoulders. Her sleeveless dress seemed to be made of a forest, that was constantly changing and miniature birds kept flying across the… fabric? Her skin looked like it was made of crumbling dirt, which was churning and rearranging itself in different places. _Yes, Leo Valdez, Son of Hephaestus, _the goddess said. Her eyes were still shut, which made the fact that she was talking a whole lot creepier. "Don't even try, dirt face. We're gonna pound you back to where you belong. Which by the way, is the ground." He said, determinedly.

_How brave, my little pawn. But alas, no, you will not destroy me. I shall awaken and tear Olympus down by its roots. _She said, sweeping her long blue hair over her shoulders. Instantly, the big field behind him, where they usually started their games of Capture the Flag burst into flame. The forest behind Gaea slowly crumbled down to small splinters of branches and leaves. Gaea chuckled softly. "Okay, lady. Please stop laughing. You're seriously creeping me out with the whole closed eyes thing." Leo said, inching away from the earth goddess. Gaea thrust out her hand, and Leo felt himself sinking slowly into the ground. He tried to escape, but the dirt sucked at his feet and pulled him down even faster. Leo struggled to move his arms, but they were frozen to his body. He watched, in horror, as Gaea walked/glided across the grass and destroyed the camp forge and the stables. By now, Leo was in the ground up to his chest. The goddess came over to him, and Leo knew what was coming. She pressed her hand to the ground, and Leo's head went under.

He woke up, sweating, and trembling at the same time. He checked the alarm clock next to his bed. It was barely 6:00. After many attempts of trying to go back to sleep, he just gave up and got dressed. He went outside, where the hallway was completely silent. Leo considered banging pots and pans as he walked by, but decided not to. He entered the control room, and found Jason, yawning, but manning the ship. "Jason?" Leo asked. Jason looked up. His eyes were droopy and his hair was disheveled. "Ah, sleeping beauty." Jason said, yawning again. "Yeah, sure. Where is the coach?" Leo asked, hoping that the satyr hadn't done something crazy. "Eh, he just went to sleep. He told me to take care of the ship, so I've been here all night. Whoops, I wasn't supposed to tell you I've been controlling the ship. Coach Hedge wants you to think he's been driving it." Jason shrugged. "Whatever. Just, go to bed, man. I'll wake you up in Greece." Leo took the controls. Jason left and headed to his cabin.

He looked out the window. It looked like they were already in Greece. He flew over one of the islands for a while, checking his GPS, and hovering over Epirus. He was really going to need Hazel's help from now on. After all, she could just track down the underground temple which Nico said contained the Doors of Death. He slowly descended, and landed. _Here's when the fun starts._ He turned on his radio intercom, and blasted Carly Rae Jepsen's "Call Me Maybe." He ran down the halls, trying to hear his friends' reactions to the wake-up call. He opened Frank's door to find him have a small spasm attack, and fall out of bed. "What the heck?" he groaned, and rubbed his head. "Wakey, wakey! We're in Greece!" Leo shouted, spreading his arms over his head. "Yeah, whatever, get out." Frank demanded, and so Leo left. He opened Jason's door next. Jason had a pillow covering his head, and he was under the blankets, but otherwise, he was still sleeping. "Get up!" Leo cupped his hands around his mouth to make his voice louder. Jason rolled over and got out of bed. "Now, breakfast is at 8:00 and if you're not there, you can eat later." Leo left the room, and did NOT want to see Piper's expression. She was always so grumpy in the mornings, so he just went back to the control room, and spoke over the intercom, after Carly finished the last lines of her song.

"Attention, demigods. This is your, uh, Captain, Valdez speaking. Yeah, I like that. Ok, so anyway, get ready as fast as you can, and then go to the mess hall. Like, _pronto_ because, as I forgot to mention, we are now landed in Greece." He hung up and went over to the mess hall, where Nico, Hazel, and Frank were sitting around, all talking over a meal of delicious and nutritious Doughnuts.

**Hazel**

Hazel looked out the window close to her seat, and saw green everywhere. Plants of all kinds, spread out all around the ship. And further down, about three miles away, she saw a glittering blue ocean that had huge waves crashing on the shore. "Whoa, you guys have to come see this." Her friends left the table and peered out the window. "Yeah, don't get so used to that sight, guys. We're gonna have to go underground to find the Doors of Death." Leo said, apparently bummed out like Hazel was. Soon, Jason left his cabin, and came over to enjoy a chocolate-covered, buttermilk battered doughnut. Piper wasn't ready until like, a half hour after that. When she finally came out, Hazel had noted that she'd taken the time to braid a white feather into her hair, just as she'd always done. "Okay, finally. Now, that beauty queen here has left the bathroom, we can start!" Leo exclaimed, handing her a doughnut for the road, and scribbling a note to Coach Hedge saying they'd be back sometime. Hazel left the ship, and a gust of fresh ocean air greeted her.

When she and her friends reached the ground, Leo told them the game plan for rescuing Percy and Annabeth. They decided not to split up. Hazel led the way, through the trees, and down the sloping hill. Branches and thorns wacked her in the face, but she kept on going. Finally, after what felt like hours, she stopped. They stood in a clearing, near an ancient crumbling Greek building, with fading words on the door frame. "Uh, Jason, you can go first now." She said, not wanting to be the first one to enter the old building. Jason flipped his gold coin, and held out his Roman sword. They walked into the building, and Hazel tripped on one of the steps. Leo caught her by her wrist, and out of her peripheral vision, she saw Frank glaring at him. The building was what any old crumbling place would look like. It was empty, and there was a huge hole in the roof, which let sunshine pour in, bathing the room in light. There was, literally, nothing in the old building. "But, we're supposed to be here. I can feel it." Hazel said, insisting. "Search the room. Maybe we can find something." Frank offered, and everyone set off to look around.

Hazel was inspecting a corner, and spotted markings high up. Cursing for not being tall enough to see what they were, she called out to Jason. "Jason, I found these markings, but I can't see them." She said, pointing at the words. Jason came over with Piper, just in case they were words in Greek that he couldn't understand. They were in Greek, so Piper read it aloud. "For those who seek the Doors of Death, enter where there is troubled breath. My passage shall only open to those who are in need, so evil travelers cannot avenge their greed. Chant the call, beware the fall. Starting with a zero, and ending with a writing tool." She read. "What the heck? Starting with a zero?" she said, depressed. "The end didn't even rhyme." Jason said, dumbfounded. "Well, think of a writing tool!" Nico said. "Writing tool… Pencil!" Piper said. "Piper, I'm pretty sure that zeropencil isn't a word." Leo said. "Penc- no. 'Penc,' sounds like pens. Pens?" Jason suggested. "Pen!" Hazel cried. "But, what comes before pen? Zero can't be." "Uh, zero could be an O. Oh! O, pen!" Nico practically shouted. "Open!" Frank yelled, his voice reverberating off the marble walls of the ancient building. For a second, nothing happened.

Suddenly, a rectangular hole in the floor opened up, dirt and stones crumbling into the abyss. "Uh, in found the entrance to the underground tunnel!" Frank said, his voice trailing off. "Ladies first." Leo said, motioning for Piper and Hazel to go in first. "You're the one that has the fire!" Piper said. "And Hazel can find her way underground so you and her lead." Hazel looked uncertainly at the hole. Suddenly, Leo's whole body burst into flame and he shouted, "I am Leo Valdez, the living flame!" he shouted and pitched himself over the ledge and into the abyss. No one moved. "What a weirdo." Hazel said, and jumped into the hole.

First thing she noticed about jumping into an unknown hole. Worst. Idea. Ever. The wind whistled in her ears and her curly hair whipped around her face. Her feet slammed into the ground, and her knees ached. She tried to stop herself from falling on her face, her arms flailing around. Instead, she tragically collapsed. She heard a loud scream coming from above, and pulled herself over to the side, to not be flattened by a terrified Piper. She landed, and Jason followed. Hazel sat up and looked around a crazy ADHD kid on fire. Nope. Not a single sign of Leo. But, she did see a dim flicker of light in the corner. There was Leo! She got up and walked over to the flickering light. "You okay?" she asked. "Mmhhmm. Just fell on my face." the fire went out. Leo spread his hand and a flame appeared in his palm. He got up too, and walked over to where Frank the flying seagull flew down safely to the ground. Nico had come down a bit before, hidden behind Jason's silhouette.

"Alright. Hey, we need like a name for our group. The… amazing team of Leo Valdez. Yeah, I like that name. Ok so, anyways, team, let's get going. Me and Hazel will lead, followed by Nico and Frank, and then Jason and Piper." Leo spread his hand wider, and it illuminated the room. They were standing in a dark cavern-looking place, with dirt walls and a dirt floor. Leo began trekking down the sloping ground, Hazel following. Hazel underground radar went crazy. Her temples and fingers kept on tingling, and twice, she led the group to a dead end. The fact that Leo thought he was on a singing TV show wasn't helping her focus at all. Leo stopped singing. "Guys, I think this is the most peace we've had so far. No monsters." He said, holding his little fireball up to Hazel's face to read her expression. "Aw, great Leo, you're gonna jinx it. Pretty soon, we're gonna have to fight a monster, and we're using you as a distraction for us to get away." Piper flicked Leo's head. "You know what, Piper. I'm completely fine with that. The monster will just be stunned by good looks, and he'll let us walk away, unharmed." Leo replied. "Or, he might be so scared of your face that he'll just run away and let us go unharmed." Frank said. "I wouldn't be talking, Mr. I-can't-escape-chinese-handcuffs-so-I'll-just-turn-into-an-iguana." Leo protested. Hazel stopped. She had stubbed the toes of her shoes on something hard. Leo bumped into her, and so did everyone else. "Uh, we're here. Somewhere…" she said. Leo held up his flame and in front of them, they saw a huge black door, made of obsidian, with a polished silver handle. Leo stood on his tiptoes to light up the rest of the door so they could see more of it. In the middle of the door, was a giant letter H, carved into the obsidian. "H for Hades, I'm guessing." Piper said. Hazel tried the handle on the door. It slowly opened, and she walked inside. They were in an old Greek temple. Obsidian braziers held green Greek fire along the walls, and the ceiling was so high up, you couldn't see it. "Guys," Nico said. "Welcome to the House of Hades."

**Jason**

Jason was truly impressed. He figured that now, they would save his friends. But there wasn't a single door in sight, except for the one they had just walked in through. He stepped in, to the middle of the room, holding Piper's hand. His friends followed. "Ok, so, where do you think the door is?" he asked. Piper shrugged. Suddenly, the black obsidian door opened wider, and a girl stepped in. She had long caramel colored hair, braided over one of her shoulders. She had on a white sleeveless dress, with a circular neckline trimmed with gold. She had a glowing aura around her, the kind of aura that a god or other immortal creature has. She saw the demigods standing there, and she walked over, her eyes wide. "Please! You must help me!" for a second, her hair became disheveled, and streaks of dirt and dust were smeared across her face. Then she transformed back to the pretty looking tropical girl. "I do not know where I am, I've never left my island before!" she cried. Piper walked forward. "Um, excuse me for asking, but what's your name?" "Calypso." The girl said. Leo's breath caught. Just like every other girl they'd met on their past quests like Khione and Thalia, Leo was checking her out.

"What's wrong?" Nico asked. "I do not know where I am. For many millennia, I have been cursed at my island, and never allowed to leave. Then, one morning, I just went outside, and the wind picked up, and I was gone. And I came up in this place, so here I am." She said, unhappily. "Calypso," Hazel used her best soothing voice on her. "We're here looking for our friends, Percy and Annabeth." Calypso's eyes widened. "Percy? And Annabeth? Are they friends of Tyson and Grover?" she asked. Piper looked uneasy. "Yeah, they are, but a few weeks ago, Percy and Annabeth fell into Tartarus. So we came here, hoping to find the Doors of Death so they can escape." Jason explained. "Oh. I was hoping the wind that picked me up would take me to this Manhattan of Percy's but it didn't. But I will still see him?" Calypso was depressed. She and Percy must have met sometime before that. "We don't know where the doors are, though." Leo said, combing his fingers through his hair. Calypso pursed her lips. "I think I know why I was sent here. But, I will tell you where the doors are. Many heroes have visited my island before, and told me about stories about the doors." "Yeah, I know where they are too. I found them on my first trip, but I came here a different way, I couldn't find it now, it must have changed, so we had to come down here using the old building." Nico said. Calypso strode away from the group and they followed. Piper noticed Jason staring at her, and she smacked his arm. "Ow!" he exclaimed, giving her a death glare. She ignored him and walked up front with Hazel. Nico led them to a big wall. He ran hi s hands up and down one side of the wall, while Calypso did the same on the other side of the wall. Whatever they were looking for, Nico found it. "Guys! Watch this. It took me forever to find this." He pushed what looked like a small stone carving of an H in the wall, and the temple rumbled. There, right in front of them, appeared a set of double doors.

One of the doors was gold, and the other was silver. They had ancient Greek words carved into the borders. They looked something like: ο Πόρτες του θάνατος.

Piper read the words aloud, "The Doors of Death. It just keeps repeating that over and over." Jason suddenly felt all jittery inside. All he wanted to do was have Percy and Annabeth come outside and he wanted to leave. He was the son of the Lord of the Sky, not the Underworld, so he felt uncomfortable in the underground temple. "Uh, guys, like can't we just open the door, get Percy and Annabeth, and leave?" he asked. "No. We have to wait until they see the door too, and come through. Besides, it's already open. Remember? That's why monsters keep coming back." Nico said. Piper came over next to Jason. She must have not been mad anymore. "You're telling me that on the other side of the door, is Tartarus?" she asked, and Jason could sense a note of nervousness in her voice. "Well, there's space, like when you enter the doors on the other side, there's space, until you come out on this end. But otherwise, yes, on the other side, is Tartarus." Nico said. Jason had an urge to get as far away from that door as possible. He did not want to be sucked into Tartarus. He took Piper's hand, feeling that it would comfort her, and him as well.

And so their wait began. They couldn't just go up to the ship and wait, because the path back to the House of Hades might have changed. So they had to wait in the dark, dank, temple. They played small games, like I Spy, which quickly grew boring because the temple was practically empty. They played 20 questions, which also grew boring because Hazel and Calypso didn't know what half of the things they were talking about were. They played charades, and Hazel and Calypso didn't know what most of the movies that they were acting out were. But, since there was nothing else to do, they stuck with charades. It was Leo's turn. He motioned his hands like he was holding a video camera. "Movie." Piper guessed half-heartedly, leaning against the wall. Leo nodded. He pretended to be holding a bow and arrow. "Robin hood." Frank guessed. Leo shook his head. "What?" Frank thought he would get it right. "Uh, The Hunger Games." Piper guessed. "Yeah. Piper wins. Again." Leo said and sat down. "It's because my dad's an actor. I know all these movies." She said. "What's The Hunger Games?" Hazel asked, sitting up. "It's this new movie that came out a while ago. It's about a fight to the death that's recorded on TV." Piper explained. "Yeah, because I would make an excellent Peeta." Leo said. "Sure, Leo." Jason laughed. "It's true." Leo protested. "You'd make a good extra that dies at the beginning." Frank said. "If I die at the beginning, Frank, then you die before it even starts. From like, a heart attack or something." Leo said.

"I should tell you something." Calypso offered. "Sure." Nico said. "I believe the only reason I'm here is to close the doors. I have to go into Tartarus and stay there, to shut the doors." She said, sadly. "Oh God, I completely forgot about that." Piper said, and face-palmed herself. "Why do you think that?" Jason asked. "Because, I think Hera sent me to this temple. Right when I walked outside, and the wind picked up, before I left, I heard Hera's voice, talking to me through my mind. She said, 'You are now free from your island, and free from your curse. But you must save the one with blood of the Sea, and the one who walks alone. You will be made a hero, and never forgotten.' Percy is the one with blood of the Sea, right? And his companion, Annabeth, the one who walks alone." Calypso looked down. "Oh." Piper said. No one spoke after that, it was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. Hazel got up, and took Calypso's hand. Piper stood with them, and the girls left to a corner where they talked about who knows what.

The temple rumbled. Calypso got up, and walked to the open door. "Goodbye, demigods!" and she opened the door, and like that, stepped through.

**Percy**

Percy knew that he and Annabeth were almost going to be going home, once he found the gold and silver doors. They hadn't even spoken. All they'd done was look at each other, and thought the same thing. But right before they'd even stepped into the open door, someone stepped out. She had caramel colored hair, braided over her shoulder, and almond eyes. She had on a white dress. Percy immediately recognized her. He stepped forward. "Calypso?" he asked. Calypso nodded and tears slid down her face. "Why are you here?" he asked, even though he'd known the answer. Calypso didn't respond. She took Percy's face in her hands, and she'd kissed him on the forehead. "Goodbye, my brave one. Someday, I shall visit your Manhattan. And goodbye, wise one." She said to Annabeth, even though she'd never met her before. "Bye. And, Calypso?" he said, right before he walked into the door. He looked back. "Thanks." And he walked in. Suddenly, he felt himself being spun. He shut his eyes, and held on tight to Annabeth's hand. When the spinning stopped, he opened his eyes, and he stood in a dark room, in front of another gold and silver set of doors. He opened them, and was bombarded by hugs and shouts.

In a blur, his friends stepped close and hugged him and Annabeth. Annabeth. He looked at her to see how she was reacting. She didn't even react. She stood there, confused. Percy thought back to the last days in Tartarus.

They'd run out of food, and Annabeth got skinnier every single day. Whenever Percy hugged her, he could feel her ribs. They hadn't eaten in forever. Percy had to watch Annabeth slowly drift off toward insanity. They'd fought all kinds of monsters, and Annabeth had gotten slashed across her back. But at the time, they were too far away from water to help her, so the best Percy could do, was use a bandage on her. They had no water, which may have caused Annabeth to go crazy. She even looked crazy. She now had stringy blonde hair, instead of her usual blond curls. Her face was covered in dirt and blood, and there were tear marks on her face from when she'd cried. After seeing Annabeth, Percy didn't want to see how he looked. "Percy, why is Annabeth acting not very Annabeth-like?" Piper stepped closer to her. "She suffered some… really bad damages. And she had a bad incident that involved falling into a hole filled with spiders." Piper tried to guide Annabeth away, to give her some food or water, probably, but Percy wouldn't let go of her. Instead, he guided her over to the corner, and sat down. "I'm worried that she'll make her mom mad. Lately, it hasn't been her making plans. Or even talking. Like, never. She just nods and says stuff that she notices about the room." Percy felt depressed saying what was on his mind. He leaned against the wall. "I have some ambrosia squares we can give her. And some nectar and food, too." Hazel reached into her pocket and pulled out squares. She handed one to Percy, and two to Annabeth. Annabeth just stared at the squares. Jason looked at Percy as if to say _I'm sorry. We'll help her get better._ Percy grabbed the squares from her, and he ate his square, hoping Annabeth would catch on and copy him. She shook her head. Percy gave the squares to Piper and hoped she's feed them to Annabeth. She understood and led Annabeth away.

"Percy, we need to get you food. We have pizza, back on the ship." Leo offered. Percy nodded. "Yeah, let's go. You didn't leave the coach on the ship by himself right?" he asked, already nervous. "Yeah, why?" Jason frowned. "Oh, just that he's probably gonna end up destroying something or blowing up a city with the ballistae." Percy said, poker faced. They got up and left the temple. When they reached an area below a circle of light a few feet, Frank turned into an eagle, and he and Jason took turns flying up and taking people with them. Hazel stayed with Annabeth, guiding her through the underground tunnels. When they reached the building above, Percy had to shield his eyes from the sun. He hadn't seen it in so long, that it was hard to even look down and see light. Annabeth had her arms wrapped around her head, shielding her eyes. They had to walk for about another hour, while Percy listened to Annabeth point out what was a flower and what wasn't.

"You're Hazel?" she asked. "Yeah, I'm Hazel." Hazel said. "And that's Leo?" Annabeth pointed at Leo. "Actually, no. I am Bad Boy Supreme, Captain of the _Argo ll,_ Leo Valdez." Leo said, making little finger guns. Annabeth stared at him like he was from a completely different planet. Which he could've been, if he didn't look like a human. "Be quiet, Leo. And, Annabeth, that's Frank, that's Piper, that's Jason, and that's Nico." Hazel pointed at everyone as she said their name. Annabeth nodded. "And that's Percy." She said, pointing at Percy. Hazel looked at Percy, and ran to catch up with him. "Hey, you're the only one she can really name." she told him. Percy looked down. Hazel backed up to talk with Annabeth again. "Hazel, we have a ship?" she asked. "Yes, it's Leo's ship." Hazel replied, pointing at the _Argo ll_ which had appeared through the clearing. "But Leo's sharing?" Annabeth pointed at Leo again. "Yes." Hazel said.

"Coach! Get your lazy… I mean, goatly butt out here! We got a surprise!" Leo shouted up at the ship. The coach stuck his head out the window. He saw Percy and Annabeth and his eyes widened. He opened up the door for them, and clapped Percy on the shoulder. The coach raised an eyebrow when he saw Annabeth with a confused expression on her face. She never was confused, that was always Percy's job. The satyr shut the door, and they all sat down at the table in the mess hall. Coach Hedge tried to take Annabeth to the small infirmary on the ship, but Percy hadn't allowed it. He held on tightly to her hand, and Annabeth did the same. Piper and Hazel were running around the ship, getting different foods and drinks for the demigods. There was an assortment of pizza, breads, and pastas. Percy scooped some olive covered pizza onto Annabeth's plate. "Are these good?" she asked, picking up an olive. "Yes, you like them." Percy said, biting into his own pizza. Annabeth did the same, and she liked the olives. Percy knew she would. They were her mom's creation. Percy even sat through the whole lunch, listening to Leo's lame jokes and Piper's attempts at pushing him out of his chair, while waiting for Annabeth.

When she finished, Percy tried to give her another slice, but she shook her head. "No more." She said, covering her mouth with her hands. Percy couldn't stand the fact that she was so skinny and would only eat one slice of pizza. He'd wolfed down four slices before feeling full. They walked through the hall together, holding hands, and Annabeth's eyes lit up when she saw her room. "Mine?" she asked, pointing at the book-filled shelves and cluttered desktop. "Yeah. You like to read a lot. And do other things like find out the circumference of an orange and stuff." Percy said, remembering all the times he wanted to spend time with her, and she was too busy measuring something. Annabeth sat down at her desk and started writing something on the papers. Percy left her and walked back out to the mess hall, and stopped when he heard his name mentioned. It was muttered quietly, but loud enough for Percy to hear. "-just feel so bad for them. Annabeth's turned into someone she isn't, or wasn't. And, Percy has like, all of his feelings set on her, and he's really stressed out." Piper said quietly. "I know. I can tell when I look at him, he just looks at her like she's everything and now, that's the only thing he does-" Jason started but didn't finish. Percy left and went back to his cabin instead. He locked his door and flopped down on his bed.

All he felt like doing was hiding under a rock and never coming out. It was the worst feeling ever. It was like Annabeth was herself, only she wasn't. Percy missed the old her. He knew it wasn't her fault but… still. There was a knock at his door, and he got up to see who it was. Annabeth. He headed outside, into the hall. "Look." She said, holding up the paper she was writing on earlier. It was a drawing. Since she was an architect, she was also a pretty good artist. Percy's eyes widened.

It was a picture of two hands, connected, the one on the bottom was clearly Annabeth's, with a set of rubber hair bands around her wrist. The one on the top was holding on to the hand on the bottom. "It's when we fell. We're holding hands!" she tapped the picture happily. Percy didn't know why she was so happy about it, but he was just so happy to see her remembering things. He hugged her tightly and looked into her eyes. "I love you." He said. Suddenly, he saw something flicker in Annabeth's eyes. Her face seemed fuller, and her eyebrows twitched. She snapped. She noticed the drawing in her hand, and blushed. "Why the gods am I holding this?" she looked at the drawing and her eyes widened. "Uh, I should probably go put this somewhere else." She said, crumpling the drawing. Percy thought it was too good to be true. He hugged her tightly, and thought it was the best moment of his life.


End file.
